Radiation emission occurred in the South Urals

The fact that in the southern Urals could be released ruthenium-106, previously reported by European scientists. The radioactive cloud has reached France. However, Rosatom refuted these findings.

“Roshydromet” confirmed “high” or “extremely high” contamination of laboratory samples. The highest pollution rates were recorded in the area of ​​Argayash village in the Chelyabinsk region. There, the level of ruthenium-106 exceeded the background of the previous month by 986 times.

The Office also acknowledged that in late September and early October, weather conditions had arisen for the movement of air masses and pollutants from the Southern Urals to the Mediterranean and northern Europe.

“Even considering that the observed concentration over Europe is low, tens of millions of people were affected, and some of them will have health problems,” Greenpeace writes.

Greenpeace Russia is preparing a statement to the prosecutor's office demanding to verify the possible concealment of a radiation accident. The organization recalls that ruthenium-106 is a man-made radionuclide. Under normal conditions, it is absent in the environment, and any concentration in the air suggests that an accident has occurred.

According to the assumption of the French Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (IRSN), the emission could be 10 thousands of times higher than the allowed rate. As the institute notes, in this case it is necessary to protect people within a radius of several kilometers from the accident site.

Ruthenium-106 was recorded in most European countries, writes IRSN. The highest level of ruthenium-106 in France was recorded in Nice from 2 to 9 in October. After October 13, no radionuclide was observed in the French atmosphere.